Night-Vision: How U.S. Forces "See" in the Dark

ABCNews.com

October 18, 2001

Al Qaeda soldiers may know the terrain better and they may be able to
navigate hidden networks of underground tunnels. But once night falls,
any American troops in Afghanistan will have at least one advantage:
They can see in the dark.

"Clearly night-vision technology is essential. It's one of the real trump cards we have in the battle with al Qaeda," said Michael O'Hanlon, a defense specialist at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

"Otherwise, it would be a small number of forces fighting a small number of troops on their own turf. This is an important edge and we need every edge we can get."

Night-vision devices were invented during World War II for use by American, British and Soviet soldiers and pilots. Since then, the technology has evolved from bulky devices that amplify light about 1,000 times to compact equipment that can amplify any light source (including faint starlight) up to 50,000 times, and eyewear that allows soldiers to see in complete darkness (such as in caves) by detecting heat differences.

Taliban May Have Some Night-Vision Technology

Taliban and al Qaeda forces may have access to some night vision equipment, bought from other countries in the past. Last February, for example, a U.S. pilot of Egyptian origin recounted to a New York court how he flew a private jet for Saudi exile and alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and transported in equipment from Britain including night-vision goggles.

Night-vision equipment has also long been available to consumers in the United States and elsewhere, although it is a felony to leave the United States with the technology without a permit.

But experts believe that any equipment al Qaeda forces may have is scarce, and inferior to U.S. technology.

"The Taliban doesn't seem to have experience with night-vision equipment," said Anthony Cordesman, an ABCNEWS defense consultant and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "So this equipment offers a lot of advantages."

Some have pointed out that the Soviets had access to night vision equipment during their drawn-out conflict with Afghanistan in the 1980s and still the Soviets were forced to withdraw from that conflict. But Cordesman says equipment and training among U.S. forces far exceeds whatever Soviet troops had more than 20 years ago.

"We have the technology," he said. "So 'We own the night' could take on new meaning." Already, U.S. pilots have used night-vision equipment to navigate and find targets during night bombings of Afghanistan. Infrared lasers are also used to illuminate targets with a light invisible to the naked eye, but visible to those using infrared detection technology. Infrared images are portrayed in shades of color onto a TV screen in the cockpit.

"Being able to operate around the clock, in the day and the night, is vital for the air forces because it places great uncertainty in the minds of the opposition," said Nick Cook, aviation consultant for Jane's Defense Weekly.